[Orbiting_Rosie's_Head]

Somethings up with the magnetic pole perhaps?

I had the same thought. Saw a NOVA show on PBS the other night about mag pole reversal. A scientist has built a pretty convincing model of reversal, and ancient lava flows show reversals every 200K years or so. Right now, we are 500K overdue and the anomalies in the magnetic field predicted by the model are rapidly appearing. According to one lava flow study, once the critical point is reached, reversals can happen in minutes. Birds, sensitive to mag field for navigation, may have become disoriented by an anomalie and simple flown into the ground.

[Explorer89]

Saw a NOVA show on PBS the other night about mag pole reversal

There is a phenomenon known as the South Atlantic Anomaly that satellites have to contend with....much higher radiation effects there than elsewhere. The Anomaly is an indicator of the mag field switch getting ready to happen.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

NOVA!!! That's where I saw it. Mr. Peel was channeling surfing some time ago -- (he usually hangs around the Discovery channels) and we stumbled into the last 20 mins or so of the show you described. It was very, very interesting. I did not realize we were overdue for a field reversal.

Oh man, when that happens-- I'd hate to be a plane in the sky relying on my GPS navigation at the time.